VW expects half of U.S. sales to be electric vehicles by 2030

Volkswagen is accelerating its plans for all-electric vehicles with the aim of becoming “the world’s most desirable brand for sustainable mobility”, a title no doubt already held by Tesla.

On Friday morning, the German automaker said more than 70% of European sales of its Volkswagen brand will be electric vehicles by 2030, up from a previous target of 35%. In the United States and China, it expects half of its sales to be electric vehicles by then.

“We are picking up the pace,” said Ralf Brandstaetter, who heads the Volkswagen brand, in a statement. “In the years to come, we will change Volkswagen like never before.” The company also owns Audi, Lamborghini, Porsche and several other luxury brands, but Friday’s announcement applies to VW-branded vehicles, which include the Passat and Jetta.

Volkswagen has announced plans to spend around 16 billion euros ($ 19 billion) to invest in future trends such as “electric mobility, hybridization and digitization” by 2025. The automaker also plans to make autonomous driving features widely available by 2030.

Volkswagen is the latest automaker to either speed up or announce the switch from vehicles with traditional internal combustion engines to fully electric motors. Earlier this week, Volvo said it would only offer electric vehicles by the end of the decade, while General Motors announced plans to become an all-electric manufacturer by 2035. Stellantis, the product of the merger between Fiat Chrysler and PSA Groupe, plans to have fully electric or hybrid versions of all its vehicles in Europe by 2025.

While those goals may seem distant, it typically takes five to seven years for automakers to develop and launch a new vehicle. EVs are expected to shorten this timeframe, as they require fewer components than traditional gasoline cars and have some of the same parts that can be used to build either.

The announcements follow the optimism of investors in electric vehicle start-ups, as well as the surge in Tesla shares last year, which made the California-based company the top-rated automaker in the world. world in terms of market capitalization.

Government incentives and tightening CO2 emissions targets are pushing automakers to phase out electric vehicles more than customers are asking. IHS Markit reports that electric vehicles accounted for about 3.3% of the 76.5 million vehicles sold globally in 2020. The research company expects electric vehicle sales to reach 12.2 million in 2025, which indicates an annual growth of nearly 52%.